Mega boat docks meant to lure more fishermen to Hartwell Lake

Robert Emery, park manager at Tugaloo State Park said hopefully by this summer, the mega-boat ramp and parking lot at the park will help draw many fishing tournaments on Hartwell Lake in Franklin County, Ga. The $1.5 million project is mostly funded with money from a PCB settlement, Emery said.

Robert Emery, park manager at Tugaloo State Park in Lavonia, Georgia walks on the Franklin County mega ramp while a grading crew prepares the land for parking. Local and state government officials plan to host three or more events from the lot each year. The $1.5 million ramp and parking lot, capable of parking around 300 cars, is funded by the Lake Hartwell PCB settlement and the Go Fish Georgia project.

Work on the Franklin County mega boat ramp has been completed, but a Hart County boat ramp will not be completed until April.

Hart, Franklin and Stephens counties were awarded $3.7 million in 2007 as part of a settlement with the owner of a plant responsible for contaminating Lake Hartwell with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Money from that settlement is being used for the construction of boating ramps in Hart and Franklin counties.

The boat ramp at Tugaloo State Park in Franklin County is complete, but crews are still working to finish as much of the grounds as possible, said Gary Fesperman, city manager of Lavonia. The grounds are being completed in time for a planned fishing tournament at the ramp in April 2011, he said.

Fesperman said there is not enough money to finish the entire project at this time.

"We're trying to get at least the main parking lot paved and at least one T-dock out there," he said.

Fesperman gave an update on the project to Lavonia City Council members this week. He said the total cost will be about $1.5 million. Part of the funding will come from the PCB settlement and the Go Fish Georgia project. The project was originally expected to cost $700,000 to $900,000.

The initial plans do not call for paving the overflow parking lot or completing any docking facilities, he said.

Fesperman said additional funding will have to come from fundraising efforts or contributions from the partners. He said more meetings will be needed to determine who will manage and run the boat ramp.

The boat ramp in Hart County will be at the Gum Branch Boating and Fishing Facility at U.S. 29 on Lake Hartwell, said Jon Caime, the Hart County administrator. He said construction began in the fall and will be completed by April.

The site has been regraded and the parking lots are almost finished but the ramps have not been built into the water, Caime said.

He said the Golden K club in Hart County has already scheduled a fishing tournament at the ramp for the weekend of Sept. 11. He said 125 boats are expected to come out for the tournament.

"The businesses in town will see more activity," Caime said. "The biggest thing for us is going to be the increase in sales tax revenue."

Michele Dipert, president of the Hart County Chamber of Commerce, said the September boating tournament is also sponsored by the local Home Depot.

"Anything that can bring people to our community is great," Dipert said. "I'm all for that. I'm a big proponent of fishing tournaments because they are an industry jewel."

Caime said the ramp in Hart County will be six lanes and include 250 parking spaces. The ramp will eventually include an amphitheater area and additional buildings.

Caime said that originally $900,000 was set aside from the PCB settlement for the construction of the ramp but that was increased to $1.4 million.

He said the state is responsible for the project and construction work is being done by Simpson Trucking and Grading in Gainesville, Ga.

Glenn Brill, director of Anderson County's Parks, Recreation and Tourism Division, said county officials expect to hear from Lake Hartwell PCB settlement trustees in March about possibly receiving funding for a fishing event center near Anderson.

He said plans for the $3 million Green Pond Fishing Event Center project have been in the works for years and he thinks the county could receive about $1.5 million from settlement trustees.

Brill said the event center would be on Green Pond, a peninsula on Lake Hartwell near the Anderson County line. The project would include a six-lane boat ramp, 150 parking spaces and an outdoor amphitheater.

Brill said that if the county receives about $1.5 million from settlement trustees he does not know how the county would find the other $1.5 million needed to complete the project.